Grandmother not old enough at toys r us - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Xazy · 09-13-2008, 04:34 PM

Quote:

A Valley grandmother was thrilled when a national store was promoting a deal for grandparents, but her enthusiasm did not last long.

Toys R Us is celebrating grandparents by giving them 20 percent off if they buy something for their grandkids.

Sounds nice but one Valley grandmother says she got shortchanged.

Linda Peters is a proud grandparent who enjoys every minute with her grandson.

"It's just fun," she said. "I think you get to spoil them."

And to spoil her grandson, Peters was going to use a coupon she found this week in a Valley newspaper.

It was from Toys R Us and it said, "We love grandparents," and as a result, the toy store was giving grandparents 20 percent off their purchase all this week.

You would think such a promotion would put a smile on this grandma's face, but it made her angry instead.

Why? Well, Toys R Us listed restrictions at the bottom of that 20-percent off coupon and the restrictions were that grandparents had to be 50 years old.

For Peters, that's a problem.

As it turns out, she is 49. And even though she attempted to use the coupon anyway at Toys R Us, the toy giant told her sorry.

"It's discriminatory," Peters said. "How do you put an age on a grandparent or a mother or a father, for that matter?"

Toys R Us tells 3 On Your side they always have to set guidelines when they have promotions and for this one, they say establishing an age requirement was appropriate.

But Peters disagrees and says Toys R Us may claim to love grandparents, but what they really mean is that they love "old" grandparents.

"To assume that someone over 50 is a grandparent and that someone under 50 is not a grandparent, it's not fair," Peters said.

Toys R Us tells me they don't think they made a mistake creating an age limit.

Regardless, they tell 3 On Your Side that they don't want Peters to be unhappy and out of a courtesy to her, they will extend the promotion to her.

I understand the need of setting up guidelines for getting a discount, but I know of a 45 year old grandmother, and this age limit on how old you should be to be a grandparent bothers me.

skier · 09-13-2008, 04:52 PM

Seems par for the course to me, though perhaps they borrowed too much from a "senior's" discount plan for their grandparent discount promotion. It's not as though they could enforce the discount in any reasonable way, a fifty year barrier is easy to check and a fair compromise to avoid a large amount of abuse with the coupons.

towman501 · 09-13-2008, 06:21 PM

my sister became a grandmother at 39. with the high numbers of teen pregnancy you're always hearing about, I'm sure she's not the only one. so where should they draw the line?

jewels · 09-14-2008, 05:18 AM

They didn't call it a "senior" sale. They would have to honor anyone who claims to be a grandparent.

Related, but not. Although the term "senior" is defined differently depending where you are. AARP and movie theaters (here, anyway) utilize 50. But the County I used to live in defined it as 65 or over and the neighboring county said "seniors" were 62 and over. As long as it's known policy and the company/franchise sticks by it, they have the right to draw the line.

Ayashe · 09-14-2008, 07:01 AM

Well, that is the trouble with having a Grandparent sale, working out the logistics of it so that it would not be abused. I think giving the discount to anyone who brought the coupon in would have been more logical and less apt to insult anyone. I imagine most people wouldn't take advantage anyway.

09-13-2008, 04:52 PM	#2 (permalink)
skier Rawr! Location: Edmontania	Seems par for the course to me, though perhaps they borrowed too much from a "senior's" discount plan for their grandparent discount promotion. It's not as though they could enforce the discount in any reasonable way, a fifty year barrier is easy to check and a fair compromise to avoid a large amount of abuse with the coupons. __________________ "Asking a bomb squad if an old bomb is still "real" is not the best thing to do if you want to save it." - denim

09-14-2008, 05:18 AM	#4 (permalink)
jewels Eponymous Location: Central Central Florida	They didn't call it a "senior" sale. They would have to honor anyone who claims to be a grandparent. Related, but not. Although the term "senior" is defined differently depending where you are. AARP and movie theaters (here, anyway) utilize 50. But the County I used to live in defined it as 65 or over and the neighboring county said "seniors" were 62 and over. As long as it's known policy and the company/franchise sticks by it, they have the right to draw the line. __________________ We are always more anxious to be distinguished for a talent which we do not possess, than to be praised for the fifteen which we do possess. Mark Twain

09-13-2008, 06:21 PM	#3 (permalink)
towman501 Upright	my sister became a grandmother at 39. with the high numbers of teen pregnancy you're always hearing about, I'm sure she's not the only one. so where should they draw the line?

09-14-2008, 07:01 AM	#5 (permalink)
Ayashe Psycho	Well, that is the trouble with having a Grandparent sale, working out the logistics of it so that it would not be abused. I think giving the discount to anyone who brought the coupon in would have been more logical and less apt to insult anyone. I imagine most people wouldn't take advantage anyway.